War Flower
by Sweet Little Darling
Summary: AU/AH. In 1864 southern belle, Katherine Pierce should be worried about finding a man to marry, but instead she is caught in the middle of a Civil War. When her father is drafted into the war, she decides to take his place while masquerading as a boy. During her training she is taken prisoner by Yankee General Elijah Mikaelson. Kalijah. Rewritten. HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**1.A Well Born Young Lady**

1864

Miss Katherine Pierce flinched slightly as she felt her maid, Emily tighten the corset strings around her slim waist. Each pull caused her to take away some of her breath, but it was worth it if it would have help her achieve the tiny waist that she had always desired. Next came the heavy crinoline and the silk white stockings that were so hard to get now during the Civil War. The Virginia day was pretty; Katherine couldn't help but notice. Even in times of war Katherine couldn't help, but think how pretty Virginia was. During those times it was hard to believe that they were even at war with the north.

Emily went to get her favorite green dress from her wardrobe that had many green folds and green silk ribbons. Emily put a necklace around her slim neck and adorned her dark brown curls. Katherine tilted her head and cocked it to the side and smiled. There she looked beautiful.

She was sixteen years old and pretty, Katherine was sure of that at least. It was summer and it was hot. It was supposed to be the time for barbecues, handsome boys, and engagements and hoping for a marriage. Katherine's own mother had been married at her age!

She was the only daughter of Isobel and John Gilbert and their only child and therefore had been determine to make them proud even if that meant tying herself down to a man and, she wrinkled her nose, having children and losing her figure. But the war had ruined everything, Katherine though bitterly. The stupid war.

"There my lady," Emily said proudly as she fixed the green skirt. "You look perfect."

Katherine tilted her chin. "Thank you, Emily." She picked up her skirt and headed down the ivory staircase of the grand mansion. Everything was spotless even though they had lost a couple of servants. The thing that Katherine most detested was that most of the handsome young men had also gone to war along with a few of her boy cousins which made for a very boring life. So far, Katherine was being surrounded by very boring and crying females.

She entered the dining room and saw that breakfast was laid out even though the food was poor, compared to the food that they used to have. Her mother was sitting there looking very pinched face and rather ill and Katherine was sure that she hadn't eaten breakfast for the past few days. The poor old dope still probably thought that by fasting and praying everything would solve itself. John was sitting there looking at the newspaper and stuffing his face with toast. He had dark circles under his eyes, but he still looks handsome.

"Good morning Mama, good morning Daddy." Katherine said as she took her place at the breakfast table and started buttering some toast.

"Good morning, sugar." John said, but he didn't bother looking up from his newspapers. Miranda curled her lip into a frown, but didn't acknowledge her daughter, instead she simply said. "There is no more sugar," was all she said. "And there won't be some for some time."

Katherine frowned. She had a rather sweet tooth and she liked sugar with her tea. "Can't Daddy get some more from the stores?"

"There isn't more," Miranda snapped. "The stores are in shortage for everything lately."

Katherine grumbled. If it wasn't for this stupid war, then this wouldn't be happening. Perhaps things would be more peaceful. Why couldn't the North and South just live far away peacefully. Then Katherine could have everything that her pretty little head wanted such as coffee, sugar, and tea. Come to think of if they were running low on things like vegetables and cheese. Well, it was a good thing that they still had some on the farm animals at least they wouldn't starve.

"Morning post," their elderly butler said as he gave one letter to Miss Katherine and the other to John. John opened his and Miranda nosily asked. "Well?" she demanded. "What does it say?"

"We lost the battle of the yellow bayou," John looked crestfallen as he crumbled the letter in his hand. "We lost again to the union, the damn Yankees. This is the third battle that we have lost in the past few months."

"What?" Miranda squeaked. "That can't be. Our good confederate soldiers should be more than enough to drive those damn Yankees away!"

"Well the Yankees has always been brutes, Mama. Don't sound so surprise." Katherine quipped as she opened the letter and read quickly. Her face turned pale as she let her parents know the news. "The Crawley brothers are dead."

The Crawley brothers had been the Pierce's handsome neighbors and had both been keen on Katherine and she was sure that she would have received a marriage proposal from one of them at least. But now they were both dead. Just a pile of corpses. Katherine felt a hardness in her throat, but she refused to cry.

Stupid Union soldiers. Stupid war. Stupid Yankees. They had taken everything that Katherine loved and that made it impossible for her to live as a Southern Belle, but Katherine would get her revenge sooner or later.

She crumbled the letter in her hand as her mother lamented the Crawleys' brothers deaths. Miranda had married John when she had been fifteen and all though Katherine was still young and pretty. She probably thought that she was already an old maid. "I'm going to go visit Caroline, I'll be back in time for luncheon, Mama."

"Miss Forbes?" Miranda blinked still overwhelmed by the news that she had receive at breakfast. "But you still have not eaten your Breakfast-Katherine! Put on your hat for crying out loud, you're going to get freckles!"

* * *

"Poor George, poor Matthew," Caroline Forbes sighed as she and Katherine walked into town. Even though Mystic Falls was still a very beautiful little town it still looks like a ghost town. The only people left in town were the woman, children, and old people. "I'm so sorry, Kat I know how fond of them you were."

"It doesn't matter," she said grimly. "They are dead."

"It does matter," Caroline insisted. "If it hurts this much to lose a beau, imagine a father or brother or husband."

"Well, we're not married nor have brothers. So I suppose we're lucky." Katherine grabbed the edge of her skirt to avoid it getting muddy. "It's been 3 years since it started. I was sure that it would be over by now. War is horrible. Why can't men just talk it out?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Men make everything much more complicated. I must go home now, Katherine. I must help Mother with supper," her pretty face flushed. "We're down to our last servant."

Katherine went back home and felt that everything was quieter than usual. She did not need any worse news. She asked the maid where her parents were and then she went to the parlor. Her mom looked like she had been crying and John was holding a letter in his hand.

"Mama, Daddy," Katherine said as she looked at them with worry. "Whatever is the matter what happened?"

Miranda started wailing again and John decided to speak up even though he looked rather ill and tired himself. "Darling, Kathy, darling I have been called up to war."

-End of Chapter One-

Thank you for your reviews! So after going through some rewrites I decided to post this up again! Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**2\. A Deal with the Devil**

Katherine shook her head as she looked at her father, he looked thinner and weaker than he had looked this morning at breakfast and he looked like he was about to faint. "No, that can't be." She looked at her mother. "Father, can't. Mother, isn't father too old- "

Her mother shook her head at her. "No, you forget darling that your father and I married young. He is still a young man compared to all of those poor young men that have meet their end. He was asked by the general himself to join the confederate army. He must obey."

"No, he doesn't," Katherine replied stubbornly. "There are many eligible young men- "

"Young lady that is enough," Mr. Pierce interrupted with a growl as he basically told Katherine to face the truth. "Look around you. Where do you see any younger men? All of them have fallen dead or at near death. You're still a child, so is no wonder that you don't understand, but I do. It is my duty to serve the confederate army. It is an honor to serve my country and to protect the south from those Yankees," his face softened as he patted her cheek. "You'll see pumpkin, it will all be over soon and you'll have your dear father back along with all of those young, handsome devils that you seem to miss so much- "

"And you'll finally get married," her mother interrupted brightening up a bit. "And you'll have dozens of children and make your father and I grandparents. We'll go to church on Sundays after this dreaded war is over and we'll be separated from the North for good."

Katherine sighed, her shoulders slightly trembling. There was no point in arguing. It seemed that her father's mind was already made up. Not to mention that her father was right. There were no eligible young men left. "All right Daddy I understand and I'm sure that you will beat those Yankees. When are you leaving."

"Day after tomorrow."

"So soon?"

"Now Katherine," Mr. Pierce said. "Now don't make a fuss, before you know it, I will be back soon and you'll be married and having babies. Now get dress for dinner. Emily is probably waiting."

Katherine slowly stood up and bit back her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything stupid. She exited the parlor and closed the door behind her, but instead of going up to her room, she lingered on. She pressed her ear to the door to hear her parent' speak. They were speaking in low voices but she could still hear them.

"Now, dear don't cry," Mr. Pierce said sighing.

"But you said it yourself," Mrs. Pierce choked out. "Before Katherine came. You didn't think that the war would have lasted this far. The Yankees have invaded everything. They are stronger than us- "

"There is some money left," Mr. Pierce interrupted. "Not much, but it should be enough for you and Katherine to survive on if something happens. Besides Katherine still has a huge dowry that she can depend on. Don't touch that money. She'll need that to find a good husband."

"If there are any young men after this," Mrs. Pierce said bitterly. "From what I see everyone seems to be dying."

* * *

The next morning Katherine woke up with an upset stomach and it continued while Emily dressed her and while she and her mother ate breakfast. Katherine fiddled with her eggs on the plate as she asked her mother. "Where is Daddy, Mama?"

"He's picking up his uniform from the tailor," Mrs. Pierce said, she could see that her throat was bumping up and down signalizing that she was nervous. "He will leave tomorrow. I expect you to wake up early to. . .help me depart him towards the station."

"Of course," Katherine murmured as she bit a piece of toast. "Mama, will we be all right once father is gone?"

"Of course," Mrs. Pierce snapped, looking slightly nervous. "Why would you ask such a thing."

Katherine lowered her eyes. "No reason," she didn't dare tell her mother about the conversation that she had heard about the money and the fact that she had heard that her father might not make it back at all.

Katherine could hardly sit still the rest of the day and her mother actually scolded her twice during luncheon for playing with her food. Katherine wasn't usually distracted. She was usually proud with her ladylike behavior, but it all honestly she wasn't used to things being out of her control.

The night came far too early for her and they had barely finished dinner when her father announce that he would go to sleep to have an early night. "Good night, darling." Mr. Pierce said as he gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodbye, daddy," she said with a heartache as she watched both of her parents go upstairs. After Bonnie had dressed her in her pale blue nightgown she quickly dismissed her. For a long time, Katherine herself stared at the mirror unsure of what she was waiting for exactly.

A strange thought entered her head. No, it wouldn't be possible, would it? She cocked her head slightly to the side and stared at her reflection. She didn't look too girlish did she? Could she possibly pass for a boy even though she was only sixteen? Her face was soft and round and her cheeks were flushed pink.

Maybe if she had shorted hair. She grabbed a pair of scissors along with a fair amount of her curls. She closed her eyes and started cutting until her short curls only adorned her small heart shaped face. She still look slightly female, but maybe a cap would improve her features.

Katherine stared at her expression in the mirror. Could she really do this? Could she honestly masquerade as a boy? She didn't want her father to go to war, but she didn't have any male siblings to take her father's place.

But what about her? Couldn't she take his place herself? Could she get a place in the confederate army and no one would know? Katherine quietly went to the hallway until she reached her father's study. She opened the small wardrobe that he kept there and opened it. Inside was a pale blue uniform. She bit her lip and said a quick prayer before she snatched it.

-End of Chapter Two-

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	3. Chapter 3

**3\. A Proper Man I Will Be**

Katherine could barely recognize her own reflection anymore as she barely caught a look at her reflection in the dirty brown water as she and a dozen other soldiers paced around somewhere in Missipppi. Her curly brown hair was cut short around her ears, her dark brown eyes looked scared, and her usually pink lips were chapped from the cold. She still looked feminine, Katherine couldn't help but think. Even after the awful haircut. She had stolen her father's uniform, but it was still too big on her small frame.

She had bound her breasts using the cloth made from her old corsets and she had made sure that she didn't have any jewelry on, not even a small pendant that her mother had given her for her thirteenth birthday. She honestly was surprise when no one had called her out on the fact that she looked girlish, they had barely looked at her paper or that she was over ten years younger that she was supposed to be.

They must have been desperate for soldiers otherwise they would have surely been more careful. After Katherine had styled her hair in that awful way and had stolen her father's uniform she had departed for the train. The train had carried many other young men towards their destination, the dreaded camps where they would receive military training.

As the train departed from her little town, Katherine could feel her heart sinking. Suppose that this was a bad idea, suppose that someone found out that she was a girl? Or worse that she died. Katherine curled her hands into fists. No, this was not the time to be a coward.

Katherine and thirty other young men had left the train station and were now headed towards their Camp-Camp George Michael where they would begin their first day of training in a two-week session. After that they would go off to war to fight the Yankee's and then that would be that. Katherine would be lying if she said that she didn't have some urge to spill some Yankee blood.

"I'm Matt Donovan." Katherine turned around and saw a cute, blond boy with an eager puppy like looking face. In all honesty he kind of seemed like the boys that often got killed first. But he was nice and cute and Katherine needed some nice and cute guys in her life after all the dead ones that she had been experiencing so far. "I'm from Louisiana, where are you from?"

"Virginia I'm from Virginia from a small town called Mystic Falls," Katherine said trying her best to use her "manly" voice, but it was hard and her voice still sounded a bit squeaky. "I'm K-John, but my friends call me Kat."

"Kat?" Matt asked amused. "Why is that?"

"Just an old childhood game," Katherine said coolly. "Are you in camp George Michael as well?" Katherine desperately wanted to shower, she felt sweaty from her long journey, but she doubted that she would find maid servants once she reached camp.

Matt nodded, he looked miserable and like he would rather be anywhere else than here. "You too, as well? Well at least it will be nice to have some company."

Katherine bit her lip. She doubted that she would find much company in a place where most of the boys died for sport. "Here we are." Matt said. Katherine looked up and saw a camp. It wasn't exactly welcoming and it look downright depressing to Katherine. There were a few sad looking tents, a handmade sigh with George Michael Training Camp, and a small handmade chapel with a small cross. The air stunk that was the first thing that Katherine noticed once they arrived at camp. It smelled like rotten food, blood, and to put it bluntly death.

She felt a chill go down her spine. Maybe this had been a stupid mistake, well it was too late to back out now. She and the rest of the young men went forward to the camp, a stout middle age man greeted them at the entrance. He raised an eyebrow clearly not impressed with the lot that he had been given. "I'm General Julian Marquette. I will be your supervisor and these are the men that will be training you. This in Enzo Williams and Jimmy Pollack. They deserve your respect and they will get it. Now wait until I call your names and you will be assigned to your instructors. Matthew Donovan you will be assigned to Enzo Williams. Clark Crawley you will be assigned to Jimmy Pollack. John Pierce." Katherine stepped forward and Julian stared at Katherine for a few seconds before he said. "You're with Agent Williams."

* * *

Katherine's arms and legs ached so bad that she was sure that she was going to burst into tears. She blinked wearily into the handmade calendar that she had made herself before she had left home. She had left home seven days ago, which might as well be seven years.

Katherine felt like she hadn't slept in a while and all Katherine wanted to do was crawl into bed after preferably taking a long bath. The training so far had been brutal and Katherine could hardly feel her limbs. They had done all kind of training possible from pushups to sit ups, to practicing punches, and how to use firearms.

Though Katherine felt like she was severely lacking in what they were expecting from her. Her arms and legs were thinner than most of the men and she was shorter than them too. No doubt that she was the thorn in Enzo's spine. She was currently sitting in a tent and watching some of the men play card games while making horrible jokes, which Katherine had to admit made her giggle.

She saw that Matt had a pen and a piece of paper, she tried deepening her voice to make it sound more manly. "Who are your writing too?"

"My mother," Matt gave her a soft smile. "She must miss me and my sister too. I know that we haven't gone to war yet, but it would be nice for them to have something from me. Do you have anyone special that you could write too," his cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry that was too personal- "

"No it's fine," Katherine said. "I only have my parents though, but I won't write to them, I don't want to worry them."

"Men," Julian barked as all the men turned to face them. "We are going to war tomorrow. Our battle will take place a few feet away from here, the battle of Willow Creek."

"But we've only had one week of training," Katherine tried to keep herself from trembling.

Julian glared at her. "For god's sakes Gilbert you aren't applying to colleges this is a war and the only thing that matters is that you kill as many damn Yankees as you can!"

* * *

Katherine felt sick, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of sleep, the nervousness, the lack of hunger or all three. She could tell that the men around her felt the same way, because they all looked sick to their stomachs.

The confederate soldiers were standing to one side and Katherine could see the navy blue coats of the Yankees. Someone raised a flag and then she heard a gun go off. Katherine started panicking as her eyesight was quickly disheveled because of the heavy smoke. She raised her gun and fired not sure that she had even fired at anyone. She turned around and saw Matt standing a few feet away from her. She screamed when she saw his head blow off right in front of her. Blood gushed everywhere, hitting Katherine in the face.

She felt someone grasp the back of her coat and a sharp pain in the back of her head.

-End of Chapter Three-

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	4. Chapter 4

**4\. The Officer**

Katherine squinted and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head as if someone had hit her terribly in the back of the head. She could still hear the gunshots in her ears and she briefly wondered what she had been thinking.

How on earth had she thought about talking her father's place in war? She was a mere woman, what on earth could she had done to prevent it? Katherine should be glad that she was not dead. Her brown eyes flickered slightly as a dread of horror passed through her. But wait, what if she was dead. Or worse what if she was paralyzed or missing an arm or something equally dreadful? She had seen young men coming back home looking disfigured and horrible.

Katherine had been known for her beauty all her life, what if she became disfigured, what if she could never walk, she would not get married ever. She would be stuck living with her parents for the rest of her life and become a horrible spinster!

No, her eyes squinted. She needed to open her eyes, she needed to find out the truth. Katherine heard horse's hooves, she smelled cigarette smoking, and she could hear men laughing and telling horrible jokes. Katherine's whole body ached liked the time that she had been thrown off her horse when she was seven.

She sat up slowly, but relaxed when she noticed that none of her bones were broken. At least there was that. She was at a camp, she finally realized, but it wasn't her camp The tents were covered in navy blue and white. She saw a Union flag on a flagpole and a chill went down Katherine's spine

She was at a Union camp. What was she doing at a Union camp instead of the confederate camp? Katherine briefly remembered what had happened, that she had felt someone grab her by the back of her gray coat and then hit her across the head.

Katherine was a prisoner, she thought dumbly. Of course. She had heard that Union soldiers were taking confederate soldiers as prisoners and torturing them and holding them for ramson. Katherine did not know if she preferred to be dead or be held a prisoner.

Katherine felt her chest and saw that the bonds were still there and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least no one had realized that she was a female. That was something at least. Katherine bit her lip and turned around perhaps someone had been captured along with her. She didn't know many of the men, but at least Katherine would see someone that was familiar. But no, she didn't see anyone. She just saw a sea of blue uniforms. Her heart sank when she thought of poor Matt, who had had his head blown up.

Katherine turned to her side and saw a man taking off his dark blue coat showing off his clearly defined chest. Katherine felt her cheeks flushed bright pink with embarrassment. Even though she had trained at camp, she had never been too comfortable seeing half naked men and even when she had been at the confederate camps she had changed under the covers with fear that they would see her ample breasts. The men had teased her horribly about it.

But before the war, Katherine had been a southern belle and her mother would have fainted if she had found out that her sweet daughter had seen a man half unclothed. Not that Katherine cared very much, but still the sigh made her blush, perhaps her feminity hadn't been stripped off completely.

The man had to be ten or fifteen years older than her. He had the beginning of a beard on his otherwise polished face. He had dark hair that was neatly combed and dark brown eyes. Katherine was too stunned looking at him to be scared.

The man finally turned around when he saw that someone was staring at him. His eyes were anything, but friendly and with all frankness, Katherine was not used to being looked at with such anger. "You're awake." His voice was low and almost growling. "I hope that you didn't think this was a holiday where you were going to spend some time with your girl."

Katherine giggled slightly at the remark, which apparently had not been so wise. The dark hair man eyes narrowed slightly towards her and his tone hardened. "Do you think that this is funny?"

"No," she squeaked, but there was still a small smile on her face that for some reason she couldn't erase. "Why did you take me? There was a battle."

"I know," he snapped as if Katherine were the stupidest person on the planet. "Haven't you read the newspapers or at the very least have some common sense? We take people like you, Confederates in order to show your kind that you cannot win the war between the states. The sooner that you stubborn mules can get through your thick heads that you're trash, the sooner we can go home."

"I'm not trash!" she huffed.

He ignored her. "What's your name anyway."

"Kat," Katherine said stubbornly. "Kat Pierce."

He raised an eyebrow. "It's a nickname." He snorted, but he didn't ask her for her "real" name. "Get up."

"Where are we going?" Katherine asked half filled with curiosity and terror. "There was a small, knowing smile on his face that Katherine did not particularly like. "You'll see."

Katherine followed him like a trailing puppy feeling very small against his tall frame and the dark blue uniforms and Katherine quickly realized that she was in enemy territory, yet everyone was treating her capturer as if he were a walking god.

Katherine finally got his name as they walked through the dusty camp. His name was Elijah Mikaelson. General Mikaelson of the George Washington camp. Southern Belle Katherine would have been thrilled to be in the presence of an officer a handsome one even, but soldier Kat couldn't wait to go in the opposite direction.

"Here," Elijah finally stopped and led Katherine towards a corner of the camp that was filled with trees and shrubs and dirt. Katherine wrinkled her nose. There were mosquitos everywhere which would certainly ruin her skin. Elijah handed her a heavy ax and Katherine looked at him confused.

Elijah almost laughed in her face. "Start cutting southerner. My men need to be kept warm tonight."

* * *

"Now Miranda calm down," the real John Pierce tried to calm down his hysterical wife, but he was not being lucky since Miranda was so mad she nearly scratched his eyes out. "You don't need to be getting so hysterical."

"Hysterical? You want to see hysterical?" her usual pale face was red with anger. "My only daughter, my baby is missing and you want me to be ok about it? What did you find out at the war office?"

John cleared his throat. "They are on the lookout. They send some officer to the camp where they send John too, but they told me not to worry, that Katherine was a spoiled sixteen-year-old that they would find out sooner or later that she was a woman and that they would treat her like the young lady that she is."

Miranda relaxed a little, but then her face hardened slightly. "Oh, but John what if she has been taken by some Yankee?"

John didn't say anything for a moment. "Then she better says her prayers at night."

-End of Chapter Four-

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